Life
on Earth is always changing. Organisms and their environments are
always interacting, and that can lead to growth or reductions of
populations depending on the conditions. Because all organisms are
linked in an ecology, a small change with one organism could produce big
changes in others. Sometimes this leads to extinction of a species,
sometimes this can lead to evolution of new traits that help an organism
to survive. Humans can influence these changes: directly through
selective breeding and indirectly through environmental or ecological
changes.

This
class will use foundational concepts like ecology, evolution, and
taxonomies to examine changes in organism populations and ecosystems.
We will look at natural changes, human-influenced changes, and
human-directed changes. Also, we will discuss conservation and
different ways it can be done, as well as ethical concerns about some
methods, like zoos and reviving extinct species.

Prerequisites:

None

Syllabus:

Week 1: Introduction - How is the natural
world changing? What are topics you are interested in?

Week 2: Organisms and Ecosystems - What
is an organism? What is an ecosystem? What is an environment? How do these interact? Can an organism be an
environment?

Week 3: Natural Selection - What happens
if an environment changes so much that an organism can’t thrive or survive?
How does environmental change happen? Can humans cause environmental change?

Week 4: Anthropogenic Selection - What
are ways that humans can affect organisms? What are some examples of
intentional and unintentional human-generated selection? Can humans
change ourselves?

Week 5: Selective Breeding - What are
some organisms that humans have intentionally changed over time? For what
reasons have we changed them? Is it
beneficial for the organisms? Is it
ethical?

Week 6: Unintentional Selection - What
are some ways that humans have changed the environments of organisms
unintentionally? How have some organisms adapted?

Week 7: BREAK

Week 8: Extinction - What does it mean to
be extinct? What does it mean to be threatened? Are there other ways to describe extinction?

Week 9: Conservation - What are things
that we are doing to prevent extinctions? Why do we talk about saving a
species? Do we prefer to save some
species over others?

Week 10: New Earth - In what ways has the
Earth been changed permanently? What are some permanent changes that have
happened in Earth’s history? What can we do about them?

Week 11: Issue: Zoos/Habitats - Why are
zoos and other human-made habitats controversial? What are some ways that
they help conservation? What are some ways they are not good for organisms?

Week 12: Issue: Genetically Modified
Organisms - What are genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? What are
different ways that crops are genetically modified, and for what reasons?

Week 13: Issue: Gene Banks and Jurassic Park – What are the benefits and harms of
collecting genetic samples to revive organisms in the future? Should we do this?

Week 14: Final Project Topic - We
will discuss final project topic ideas

Week 15: Final Project Research - Come
ready to share some research you have done on your topic

Week 16: Final Project Presentations - This is
your opportunity to share your project in a 5 minute presentation.